Entrepreneur’s M&A Journal Episode 47—Interview With Clay Clark

May 24, 2015

Tennessee Valley Group

Summary:

Clay and Jim take you through Clay’s journey of entrepreneurship. He started his business and worked hard, but had personal bumps in the road that includes the trauma of having a blind child and the death of a good friend. Despite these obstacles to success, Clay went on to be very successful. He has wonderful insight on how to manage your business from the onset to be prepared to sell and how to receive the most for your hard work.

Main Questions Asked:

When you started the business, were you thinking about an exit?

You went from $500 a week to 4,000 events per year, when did you decide to sell?

How did you find a buyer and determine your valuation?

How long did it take from when you decided to sell to closing?

Was there any mistake you made?

Please share what is going on now?

Key Points made:

I started the business with the intention to earn $500 a week (2:16).

I wanted to have success with my family and my finances. (3:30).

Once you have a breakdown, you usually get a break-through. (3:45)

You need to start getting ready to sell your business now. (8:20)

When you put yourself out there to be known to your competition, people show up. (8:50)

It took two years to close the sale. (10:10)

You don’t know when you will want to sell your business. (10:30)

I recommend you keep solid books, spend some time in PR and be really aware of your numbers. (10:53)

About the 4th year, I was having a break-down instead of a break-through. (14:00)

If you take the time to study people that are having success, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel and suffer. (14:02)

Tennessee Valley Group

Jim Cumbee established Tennessee Valley Group to help business owners fulfill their dreams for life after business ownership.
It’s a mission that his 30+ year career history had prepared him well for—in addition to being an attorney, transition mediator and business broker, Jim has been a buyer, seller, and entrepreneur. His broad range of experience gives him unique insight into how business buyers and sellers can achieve their goals.